2024 Purdue Football Coaching Search - Jamey Chadwell
Who Is He?
Safe to say, Jamey Chadwell is the 2024 Consensus Boiled Sports Top Target.
Chadwell is the current head coach of the Liberty Flames, who went 13-1 in 2023 and currently sit on a relatively disappointing 8-3 record, 4th place in Conference USA.
But that doesn’t tell the story. Chadwell was previously at Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt for five years, dazzling college football schematic nerds with his creative flexbone running offense and slightly untamed in press conferences. In his final three years, Coastal went 11-1, 11-1, and 9-3 with quarterback Grayson McCall, with Chadwell landing up on the shortlist of openings at Tennessee, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, and South Florida. Before that, he was head coach at Charleston Southern, Delta State, and North Greenville, going a combined 59-35 (63%).
After failing to parlay his success at Coastal into a Power 5 (or any higher-resourced job), Chadwell took the massive paycheck that Liberty handed out after Hue Freeze left for Auburn.
His offense is based around the run-pass option / triple option and flexbone principles, with creativity coming through hybrid offensive line blocking schemes, quick passes attacking outside zone gaps, and tons of speed. It’s the modern-day Basketball On Grass - once dismissed as a gimmick, it’s where a lot of creative playcalling is moving, and Chadwell is at the helm.
Read a great breakdown of the Chadwell offense here.
Why would he be successful at Purdue?
47 years old with 15 years of head coaching experience. A creative, out-of-the-box offense that has scheme nerds drooling. A bit of a weirdo with an inferiority complex. A loose cannon in board rooms and press conferences. A maximizer of talent, and a proven developer whose current quarterback Kaidon Salter is in the transfer portal (after over 6400 total yards and 66 touchdowns in two seasons). And his first name starts with a J.
Every time Purdue has succeed in the past 40 years, it’s been with exactly that profile as the Boilermakers’ head coach.
He also has a pre-existing beef with Curt Cignetti, who took a completely unprompted shot at Chadwell and Coastal Carolina during his introductory press conference at IU a year ago. Imagine that rivalry.
Why could he flop at Purdue?
Chadwell was a finalist at many jobs - including Tennessee, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, and South Florida - but never got any of the final offers. He’s a candidate bridesmaid for a reason - the “gimmicks”, lack of recruiting prowess, and lack of Power 5 (or whatever it is now) experience has more resourced programs spooked, and Purdue could be the same. He has more geographic ties to Appalachia and the Carolinas than the Midwest, and would rely heavily on the transfer portal. Also, Liberty is a magnet for some strange dudes.
Would he come to Purdue?
To me, this is the biggest-swing candidate who would realistically consider Purdue. Chadwell has been passed over by bigger programs, and might have a bit of a chip on his shoulder - a historical talking point that Purdue could lean into with the Spoilermakers moniker (much to the annoyance of some Purdue fans).
His buyout with Liberty is $4 million, and makes $4 million annually - so Purdue would likely have to guarantee something close to $40 million over the next six years to make it worthwhile for Chadwell to consider.
This is a relatively quiet year for openings, but it seems like every major opening would have Chadwell near the top of their list - North Carolina, West Virginia, UCF, and of course our Boilermakers. Chadwell might not be able to be as picky as, say, Jon Sumrall, but he can choose his next landing spot with some care.
North Carolina might be the best job he could feasibly attain from Liberty - and it wouldn’t be surprising to add UNC to the list of Chadwell’s silver medals. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if a hungry, offensive-minded Power 2 team made Chadwell the priority of their search? Would Purdue’s profile, budget, stability in the Big Ten, and (maybe) the opportunity to rub Cignetti’s face in the mud be enough to attract Chadwell to West Lafayette?
I think so. Pull out all the stops and bring us Purdue’s next head coach, Jamey Chadwell.
